Fly On
by Smex Lemur
Summary: No one should live without a family', was what he had said. And Sasuke couldn't care less. Secrets revealed, stories told and revenge taken in this cliché drama! Poor!Sasuke and Rich!Naruto. [SasuNaru] [NejiNaru] [GaaNaru]
1. Fly

**Title: **Fly On

**Inspired By: **Daddy Long Legs, though this is not quite the same. Also by Daddy Rooster Head, which is a great SasuNaru-fic. I absolutely adore it x3. This is much different from those however, I think only the beginning is slightly the same.

**Rating: **M for language, and perhaps a lemon later on(?)

**Pairings: **SasuNaru, NejiNaru, GaaNaru and some side pairings

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**

* * *

**

**  
**We are all a part of everything  
The future, present and the past  
Fly on proud bird  
You're free at last.

**-- Charlie Daniels**

**A quick note** was scribbled on the back of the door to his bedroom. Well, to the bedroom of him and five other boys, to be exact. He read it with mild interest, before he crumpled it up and threw it on the ground. He had never been much of a tidy person and he figured one of the other kids would pick it up. After all, he was the oldest (though not the most respected) child in the orphanage.

Besides, picking up litter was something for the smaller children, who had been brought up there. Not for someone of his stature, who had only been an orphan for a couple of years and had been the heir to one of the most respectable and wealthiest companies in the world.

Not that he looked down on others; oh no. In fact, he was quite humble (according to himself). He would always wipe snot from children's noses, help them tie their shoelaces and he even sometimes bathed them. These things were done, of course, without a frown of disgust or without a sneer or a scowl.

… Yeah, right.

He himself even had a hard time believing _that _one.

Uchiha Sasuke snorted and sighed at the same time as he made his way through the damp and mouldy hallway of the orphanage, deciding it was best to just visit Miss Tsunade immediately. He usually had a tendency to just show up late, making up excuses as to why, but he didn't feel like doing that today. It would just be too troublesome to hear her yell and moan about her having to do a lot of paperwork and not having a lot of time as it was.

Che, yeah right, he thought as he frowned. That really would explain why she would have enough time to plaster a post-it on his (and five other boys') room and why she always had suspicious ink marks on her left cheek.

As he walked on at a leisurely pace, he decided to take a small detour as it was such a lovely, sunny day and walked through the doors, out into the playground. He figured nothing good would come of it as he hated lovely, sunny days, but wanted to make the detour anyway. And as he walked on, he saw a boy not much older than him stepping out of a black, slick car, having the utmost annoying, humongous grin plastered on his face. The lovely, sunny sun was nothing compared to his blond locks that were sticking out… everywhere and the cloudless, blue sky could never compete with his blue eyes.

Sasuke, for a brief moment, was mildly surprised, mildly irritated and mildly interested in this new person. The boy, who was still grinning like an idiot and thanking the chauffeur who had opened the door for him (Sasuke had only briefly looked this chauffeur over; brown hair tied up neatly in a ponytail and a scar running across the bridge of his nose, dark skin and a nice, black suit with polished black shoes. Everything seemed to be very tidy with this man, so unlike Sasuke), took a brief look at Sasuke and waved at him, before he happily bounced out.

Sasuke didn't know whether to wave back, stick out his tongue, flip him off or just go over there and tackle the blond idiot. So instead he opted for something he knew would both work and wouldn't get him into trouble (or wouldn't make him seem like a childish idiot); he just shot the boy a glare and walked on, stuffing his hands deeply inside his pockets indignantly as he ignored the look of protest on the blond's face. Good, he didn't seem to like his reaction. Excellent.

Honestly; who did he think he was? Waving at a stranger like that, how impolite. And thanking his chauffeur for opening the door? Please, it's their job! They get paid to do it.

So, therefore Sasuke's first impression of the boy he would most probably see more often (it's not really a secret, is it?) was:

A total moron.

And who in their right mind would wear orange? Sasuke shook his head, a small snort escaping from his mouth as he remembered the bright orange t-shirt and the simple faded jeans the boy had been wearing, along with what used to be white sneakers, brown pilot goggles and orange wristbands on each wrist. Had the fashion police been there, they would have died of shock.

Either that, or they would've killed him. Which wouldn't be such a big loss in Sasuke's mind.

Besides, he mused, wouldn't a rich kid like him (considering he had a black car, his own chauffeur, etc.) be dressed in a nice suit or something more passable than simple jeans? At least, he had worn a suit almost everyday if he didn't go to school. before he came to this dreaded orphanage. Well, he supposed his school uniform could pass as a suit as well.

He shook his head unconsciously as he decided the blond idiot was not special enough for him to dwell on much longer and instead focused his mind on getting to the office.

It was often he was getting called out to Miss Tsunade, who was in charge of the Konoha Orphanage for twenty years now. She may not look like it, but she was most definitely older than fifty, even though she could behave like a twelve year old most of the time. Which was probably why she was rather good with the children. And, after a many facelifts and plastic surgery, she looked like someone in her early thirties rather than her early fifties.

Not that Sasuke was amazed—oh no. His mother had gotten a couple as well, from the same doctor as Miss Tsunade's and they had worked out rather well.

After a five minute stroll through the orphanage, Sasuke arrived in front of Tsunade's office door. He frowned, slightly disgusted by the rotting and dirty wood of the door, before he quickly knocked on it. He heard a crash coming from the inside and figured Tsunade must've been asleep once again.

He smirked. Heh, it was always fun to wake her up. One of the few amusing things in the orphanage.

"Come in," was muttered from inside and Sasuke gracefully took the doorknob and opened the rotting thing, revealing a still drowsy Miss Tsunade clumsily trying to get herself up in her chair. Why there was an empty sake bottle on the floor was beyond Sasuke (honestly, if she wanted to get drunk, why didn't she just do it in her own room? Che.). With a rather dry expression on his face, Sasuke walked up to her desk and sat on the wooden, uncomfortable chair across from Tsunade's.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked, seeming to be rather bored as Tsunade finally managed to seat herself in her more-comfortable-chair-than-Sasuke's, looking rather proud of herself for doing so. She coughed, shuffling some paperwork (Sasuke vaguely noted that the blond woman had, yet again, managed to get some ink on her cheek) as she did so.

"Ah, yes," she muttered. "Right, where to begin?" she then continued to mumble, taking a letter in her hands. "As you might know, I had a meeting with several of our Trustees yesterday and one of them was quite interested in you." An elegant, black eyebrow shot up. "He had seen your grades in school and even I have to acknowledge you are somewhat of a…" she paused, drawing her eyebrows together as if she couldn't say the word without throwing up. "Genius," she finally finished. Sasuke looked quite smug. She cleared her throat briefly again, before continuing to rant on and on about his potential, about him becoming a great businessman one day and other crap like that. Honestly, couldn't she just hurry up, say the Trustee was willing to give him some money for his future and let him go? This was beginning to get rather annoying.

Ah yes, that's one of the many things I forgot to mention. You see, our beloved Sasuke was a genius. He was doing great in all of his subjects, from Math to History, from Latin to German—they were all perfect grades. Unfortunately, seeing as how the Orphanage had little money, they couldn't send him to college anyway. As soon as he would become eighteen (which would be in four months), he would get thrown out of the Orphanage and into the big, bad world with no money and no prospect of a nice future. Sure, he could get a scholarship, but that wouldn't be nearly enough—he also had to get himself a house, a job to pay the rent…

He shook his head, thinking about how his life was just one big mess. None of the other orphans he had known about had a nice life—they were all either store clerks or homeless. Sure, sometimes a Trustee would _donate some _money, but it wasn't nearly enough—the most part of it would pay for his high school tuition anyway, so it wasn't like there would be much left of it.

Which was also why his few visits to Miss Tsunade's office were rather like a routine; she would go on about how _giving _and _selfless _and _honourable _the Trustees were, declare to him that they had given him fifty dollars (whoop-dee-freakin'-doo) and send him back to his room.

"Anyway, this particular Trustee really hardly ever shows up for meetings, so I was rather surprised he was there yesterday. The last time he attended was three years ago, a week before you arrived," she continued, before mumbling something about 'damn brat, should've kicked his ass'. But Sasuke wasn't quite sure, of course. "He has never really shown interest, save for two other orphans who had _selflessly_," _Oh, here it comes, _Sasuke thought. "Adopted them and sent them to college." She smiled brightly at the second, thin, black eyebrow that shot up. "One of them is now an artist and the other is a businessman," she continued proudly. "Well, he should be arriving any minute now, so he can fill you up on the rest." Again, she started to mumble something about 'damn brat, always late. Wanna squeeze his throat', but alas, Sasuke couldn't be sure.

Both pairs of eyes shot to the door when it crashed open, revealing the same blond Sasuke had seen in front of the Orphanage not ten minutes ago.

"Old haaaaaag!" he shouted happily, throwing his hands up in the air. Behind him stood the same chauffeur Sasuke had seen, slapping a hand against his forehead in shame. The chauffeur then proceeded to grab the blond by the collar and smack him on the head (Sasuke couldn't help but smirk). Tsunade just rubbed her poor aching head.

"Brat! I told you not to call me that!" The Blond Idiot proceeded to pout (Sasuke couldn't help but think it was rather cute. Before he promptly mentally smacked himself), before he took a seat in the other wooden chair next to Sasuke. "Anyway, Sasuke, this is the Trustee I was talking about. Mr. Uzumaki."

There was only one thought that registered itself in Sasuke's brilliant mind.

_WHAT! _

"Just call me Naruto, or Daddy if ya want," the Blond Idiot (or Naruto) teased him, flashing the black-haired boy a grin. Sasuke gritted his teeth together.

"I will do no such thing, you moron," he ground out. Naruto blinked once and was about to erupt into a rant, but Tsunade cut him off.

"Uchiha, shut up!" she snapped. Sasuke shut his mouth, as did Naruto, though they continued to glare at each other. "Naruto, please introduce yourself to the Uchiha over there, unless you're backing down on your offer." Naruto immediately grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, I've had tougher eggs to crack than this one," he said. Before Sasuke could reply, however, Naruto continued happily. Sasuke hated him already. "Anyway, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, age twenty-four, parents Ara—" Tsunade cut him off again.

"Naruto, I didn't mean that kind of an introduction," she said tiredly. But then again, wasn't she always tired? Naruto rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Heh, sorry," he said. "Right, so I kinda like orphans since I am one myself too and I wanna help them. Since I can't offer _everyone _a home and a family and all that jazz… I'll adopt only the ones I really think deserve better, like you!" Sasuke rolled his eyes at the sentimental fool. Of course Sasuke deserved better; he couldn't deny that. After all, he was a genius. "Anyway, you're not obligated to come with me or anything, I mean, ya can just stay here and become a store clerk." Eh, how did he know? "Or ya can come with me, live in a real house, have your own room, crap like that. Ya can have a nice future. So, whaddaya say? Huh?"

Sasuke, at first, was stunned. This guy was for real, right? This wasn't some sort of joke, right? He could get out of that hell hole, live in a real house, have at least a small piece of his life back… right?

But then he looked at the blond idiot, who looked back at him expectantly and felt resentment. This Naruto-guy was an idiot, he was happy and cheerful, even though he had admitted he was an orphan himself. How could he be so happy about it? And why would he want to help others?

And why the hell would he think Sasuke would even accept his help?

Sasuke could handle his own life. He could do it on his own—he could get a house again, he could get a family, a job, an education. A small sense of pride made its way into Sasuke's body and stayed there, until Sasuke firmly replied,

"I'll stay here." Both Tsunade and Naruto seemed to be surprised and the chauffeur looked at him disapprovingly. And who could blame him? Here it was, a chance for Sasuke to better his life sitting right next to him and he threw it away like it was nothing. He felt something akin to regret, but ignored it promptly and stood up, holding his head up high. An Uchiha didn't need help—they could do it on their own. "If that is all Miss Tsunade, could you please excuse me?" he said politely. But even when Tsunade sputtered 'Uchiha, sit back down!' and 'Are you crazy?', Sasuke walked away anyway, leaving them behind.

And all he could see were Naruto's blue eyes looking at him with both worry and sadness, before he shut the door.

Because he didn't need anyone. Not anymore.

* * *

"I'm very sorry about this Naruto," Tsunade said, shaking her head in annoyance. Stupid Uchiha's.

"That's okay, old Hag," he said, flashing her a grin. "He'll change his mind, they always do." She gave him a small smile.

"Just like you, huh?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Just like me."

"So, how are Neji and Gaara anyways? You still talk to them or what?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! They're still living with me actually," he grinned happily. "Well, not all the time of course. Gaara has to make business trips all the time, since he's really busy. And, well, Neji has his art so he's usually really busy too. He asks me to pose sometimes though." Tsunade gave him a sly smirk.

"Nude?" she asked him. Naruto sputtered, turning red as he did so.

"Ew! Of course not, who do you think I am! Well, he asked me once—but no! I didn't _do _it! I know I have a God-like body, but I don't wanna show it to the rest of the world. Ya know, I don't wanna give them something to masturbate to," he finished.

Tsunade just laughed and ruffled his hair.

"Kid, you're still the same as twelve years ago."

* * *

As the two of them shared moments, Sasuke was outside and had already safely settled himself up in a maple tree. _His _tree, to be exact. You see, Sasuke was a slightly anti-social being and couldn't stand being in the company of other humans too long. And whenever he had to think things through, or just needed some space, he would go outside and sit in that tree—_his _tree—and think or cool off, or whatever it was.

The warm sun couldn't reach him there, for the leaves gave him just enough shelter from it. Which was a good thing, because the sun was rather bad for his complexion.

…Right. Anyway.

Whatever it was that he was thinking about, it certainly did startle the younger children, who were scared beyond wits by the sour mood that was emitting from Sasuke's body. Little did they know it was not them he was mad at—rather, a certain filthy rich, blond orphan.

Unfortunately for their small amount of play-time, Sasuke wouldn't stop radiating the hatred and vengeance for the other and the poor, little orphans decided it was best to go inside and hide underneath their little beds for the rest of the day until the angry Uchiha would start acting normal again. Or at least, as normal as an Uchiha could act.

He growled as he remembered the annoying grin. The face full with emotion. The blond hair, the chirping voice, the marks on his cheeks that looked like whiskers, but were in fact scars. Who was he exactly? How did he become so successful? Why was he so happy, without a family or parents, or whatever?

So many questions and yet Sasuke found he didn't want them to be answered. A voice in the back of his mind told him that he was scared for the answers, scared that his new life of brooding and angst was not the only way of living; that he could be happy, that he could have a perfectly wonderful life again. Even without his parents.

That he, in fact, really did need somebody.

He shook his head and placed it into his hands, rubbing his temples as he tried to forget the memories that flood his mind. His mother, his father.

_His brother._

And as he continued to sit there, on the verge of crying for the second time since his parents' death, he thought about Uzumaki Naruto's offer more and more.

A _home. _

A _future._

And suddenly, those things didn't seem so bad anymore. As a lone tear slid over his cheek and halted near his thin lips, he jumped out of the tree and went back to Tsunade's office, to say 'yes, I want to leave this place, I don't want to be a store clerk for the rest of my life'.

And as he walked inside that office, three pairs of eyes fixed themselves upon his and they all smiled at him encouragingly. But the only one he looked at was Naruto, who grinned at him happily, and he nodded at him. Sasuke felt relief wash over him, because now he had something to look forward to.

A home.

A future.

A _family. _

* * *

**Author's note: **Aaaaaand, that's the first chapter x3. Yay! Well, this wasn't so hard. I just hope I kept everybody in character. Hope you review! I mean, really, it doesn't take long –pleads like the review whore she is- 


	2. Story

**Title: **Fly On  
**Rating: **M for language, yaoi, shonen ai, some angsting, bad humour and perhaps a lemon later on(?)  
**Pairings: **SasuNaru, NejiNaru, GaaNaru and some side pairings  
**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Maybe… it's time I make my own story.

-- **Auron, Kingdom Hearts II**

**And just like** that, a week after he had met Uzumaki Naruto, Sasuke was in a car, heading towards a small village. By himself.

At first he hadn't been too sure about his decision, but figured anything was better than staying at the Konoha Orphanage where he had nothing. At least now he was going somewhere; he had a destination.

With that in mind, Sasuke tapped his fingers on the window impatiently as the brown-haired chauffeur (he had learned that the man's name was Umino Iruka, as Naruto had introduced them immediately after he had come back into the office.) drove at a slow pace. Sure, it was safe, but damn! This really was too slow for Sasuke, he hated travelling.

Honestly, Sasuke didn't know what to expect from Naruto's home. Was it as big as Tsunade had said? Were there as many people living there as in an entire orphanage? From what Tsunade had heard, Naruto really was a kind, rich guy who just loved to give others money and help them. Sasuke didn't know whether or not to feel disgusted or feel humbled; it wasn't often rich people would share their wealth, especially not one who was so young and could do anything he wanted with his money. Buy an island, buy three other houses, hire uncountable servants and cooks, go to Paris just for dinner. Whatever rich people would do.

But no, not this guy. This guy _helped _others. He gives them a future. It was most certainly amiable and a little foolish. What was in it for him?

He glanced over at Iruka, as if expecting him to answer all of his questions about the mysterious blond, yet the brown-haired chauffeur kept staring at the road with a small and content smile on his face. Sasuke sighed and turned his head back to the window, glancing at the distant mountains and the green fields as they continued to drive on the small country road. He had a vague idea of how long they had been driving and figured they must be close to Naruto's home.

* * *

His left eye twitched.

A loud snore.

It twitched again.

"Neji…gimme ramen… now!"

Then came his right eye, which twitched three times.

"_Uzumaki_", he said dangerously.

It was followed by incoherent mumbling on the other's part, before the sleeping blond grabbed the nearest pillow and hugged it, drooling all over the said poor, abused pillow.

Another twitch.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it—we'll do it the hard way," he muttered. The man grabbed the mattress and pulled it upwards, making the blond fall to the floor with a loud crash. Then came a string of very colourful curses, before a blond mop of hair appeared, followed by a harsh glare directed to whoever it was that had woken him up.

"Neji," he growled menacingly. Neji didn't seem fazed.

"Naruto," he shot back dryly, offering him a hand. Instead of taking it however, Naruto jumped up, grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it right in the pale face of the other one.

Neji stood rooted to the ground, trying to comprehend the fact that someone had just thrown a pillow into _his _face. The one who had done it was either very brave, or very foolish. He went with the latter.

Naruto, however, didn't seem to notice the murderous glare Neji was shooting him (or he simply ignored it) and was rolling on the ground while laughing, sometimes pointing at the other, which caused several more twitches on Neji's part. It wasn't until the Hyuuga threw a pillow into Naruto's face that Naruto stopped laughing.

After that, a pillow fight erupted which ended when the blond triumphantly jumped on top of Neji, who in turn toppled backwards on the mattress.

"Well, that was fun," Naruto commented, getting off of Neji and flopping down on the bed. Neji only gave a short nod in agreement, getting up. "So, what did ya want, huh?"

"I came to get you for breakfast," Neji replied shortly, shrugging his shoulders in amusement when Naruto jumped up and exclaimed a loud 'Why didn't you tell me sooner?!', before dashing out of the master bedroom and into the dining room, where the others were waiting as well. Neji followed calmly, taking big strides as he watched Naruto bounce off with a small smile on his face.

Once everybody was seated and breakfast was served (I make it sound like it was something very fancy, but in fact it was just Captain Crunch cereal. Hey, Naruto just enjoys it! It's only too bad for Neji, who loves pancakes with lots of syrup.) and everybody was seated, Naruto started to chatter aimlessly about random things, while also eating his cereal.

He looked around satisfied when he was done sharing whatever it was he had done the day before, or which person said what to him, or whoever it was that had jumped into the water so drunk that he thought he was a mermaid who got fins once he was in the water. There weren't many people there this morning; only Neji, who was with him almost everyday. Konohamaru, who was still in high school (and, besides Naruto, the biggest loudmouth on the planet), Inari, Konohamaru's best friend, who was also in high school, and Haku this time, who came to visit his old home. The only one who came from the Konoha Orphanage was Neji, the rest were all orphans Naruto had found on the street—he couldn't leave them there, after all.

"So, when is this new guy arriving, Naruto-nii-chan?" Konohamaru asked loudly, splattering some cereal over Haku, who was sitting across him. Haku patiently wiped the cereal off his face, with a small and gentle smile, while Konohamaru apologised quickly (though he didn't sound really sorry).

"He should be here any minute now," Naruto replied happily. "At least, Iruka went to pick him up early so… I hope he gets here before lunch. You know how slow Iruka drives," he rolled his eyes, before he got a stern look in his eyes, mimicking his chauffeur's face. " 'Naruto, safety first! What if I would run over a poor little deer, or a helpless cat? Huh? What would I do then?! I couldn't live with myself!'." The kids laughed, though Neji and Haku both had a disapproving look on their faces.

"Did you say something, Naruto?" An overly sweet voice suddenly asked. It came from behind Naruto.

Naruto stiffened.

He swallowed.

Looked at Haku and Neji, who were suspiciously silent.

The kids had stopped laughing.

Naruto turned around slowly.

And came face to face with a brown-haired demon. He vaguely registered that there was a scowling Sasuke behind him.

"I—Iruka, you're here early!" Naruto exclaimed, clasping his hands together. "I'm so happy you're back! I wasn't expecting you so soon!" He grinned nervously when Iruka started to crack his knuckles.

"So I've heard," he said. "It turned out Sasuke had already packed when I arrived, so we could leave immediately. It saved us a lot of time."

"Wow! That's wonderful!" Naruto said cheerfully, pumping a fist up in the air. Iruka gritted his teeth together, before he started to rub Naruto's head with his knuckles harshly.

"Isn't it?"

"Y—yeah! It definitely is! Ouch!" Iruka released him after they both heard a loud cough coming from behind them. Naruto blinked owlishly before he remembered that the whole point of Iruka driving to the orphanage was to pick up Sasuke and jumped up, plastering his trademark grin back on his face. Iruka had the decency to look embarrassed. "Welcome Sasuke, to your new home! I hope you've had a nice trip, well, I _know _you've had a _safe _trip, of course, 'cause it was Iruka who was driving you!" Iruka's eye twitched.

"Don't push it, Naruto."

"Heh, right," he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Oh! So, how do you like it here so far? Should I introduce everybody to ya? They've been very anxious to meet you!" Sasuke gave him a harsh glare and a long silence, before he replied,

"Peachy." Naruto didn't seem to be fazed and instead turned around to be able to point at everybody.

"Right, so that there's Neji! He's an artist and a very nice guy, but very silent and he can be mean to me a lot," he gave a small pout, which caused Neji to smirk lightly at him. "See? He's enjoying my agony!" Naruto continued to wail. A glare of Sasuke shut him up. "Uh, right. Moving on! That little kid over there is Konohama—"

"Little?!"

"Yeah, shorty!"

"I'm almost as tall as you are, midget!"

"Who're you calling a midget, sq—"

Sasuke's Death Glare.

"Uh, right. Moving on! The other guy over there is Inari. He always wears that weird cap of his and he'll kick your ass if you touch it. Believe me, I've tried it once before." He unconsciously rubbed his upper arm, where there had been a big bruise after he had tried it.

"I'm sure you have," Sasuke lazily drawled, a hint of a small smirk on his lips. He bit back the 'idiot' part, though it was hard for him.

"That one over there is Haku," he pointed to a… something. Sasuke couldn't make out whether or not this person was a girl or a boy—it had long, black hair and a very gentle face. It smiled at him and Sasuke couldn't help but think that, even if it was a boy, it was very pretty.

"And I'm very much male," Haku added, seeing the confused look on the newcomer's face. "Don't worry about it, I get it all the time." Sasuke nodded slowly, looking the group over once again.

They all seemed—he almost wanted to throw up at the thought—_happy. _The hell?

"So, have you had breakfast yet? You want some? How do you like it here so far? Neji could give ya a tour if ya want after breakfast! Huh?" The very annoying, high voice of that… that… _dobe_ was starting to hurt his head. Besides, the questions were going much too fast for him—he wasn't used to communicating with other people that much. Sure, when his parents had been alive he attended parties and exchanged pleasantries ('How have you been, Mrs. Sakamoto?', 'How is your son doing?', 'Have you tried the crab? It's very delicious' and 'Really? How was your trip to the Bahamas?'), but he never had any friends and the only one he really talked to was his brother.

He shook his head immediately as the last thought crossed his mind and turned harshly to Naruto, new fury burning in his eyes as he hissed at the poor, oblivious blond,

"Shut up, you _idiot_!"

The only thing that could be heard was the clattering of spoons against the plates as the whole room became silent, including Naruto, who was momentarily speechless. Sasuke didn't understand what the big deal was about when he saw the harsh glares he was receiving from simply _everyone _in the room, even the chauffeur who had been knuckling Naruto not five minutes ago himself. Neji looked rather murderous and stood up, protectively walking over to Naruto and standing next to him. Haku simply looked angry, but didn't do anything else as he politely looked away and said to Inari and Konohamaru that they should stop sticking their tongues out.

Iruka was cracking his knuckles.

And just like that, Naruto began to erupt in the biggest rant Sasuke had ever heard.

"Bastard! How dare you call me an idiot! I'm not an idiot!" and things just went on after that. Sasuke wished he had never said it.

Neji just looked smugly at him, his arms crossed against his chest as he shut the rant off and enjoy the way the blond was yelling and flailing his arms at the handsome newcomer. Yes, because he certainly was handsome— a perfect face, pale like his, with coal black eyes and thin lips. He had hair like a raven, so black as the night, and a tall, lean body for somebody who was only seventeen. Neji figured he must've turned a lot of girl's heads in the orphanage or at school and he seemed to simply ooze popularity. Not that Neji didn't have that—he had been captain of the basketball team, of course. This guy had an air of arrogance and superiority around him however, which was something Neji simply _hated_.

"Did you hear me? Don't you _ever_ call me an idiot again!" When the rant was finally finished, Sasuke simply smirked at him. It was highly… amusing to tease Naruto. Even more amusing than to hear Miss Tsunade fall off her chair. Yes, he had found a new game.

"Sure thing… _dobe_," he replied, his smirk growing even wider when Naruto's mouth fell open.

"What, what, _whaaat_? What does that mean!" he exclaimed angrily. "Does it mean idiot? Huh? Huh?!" Sasuke shrugged.

"No, it doesn't." Naruto blinked.

"Oh. Does it mean 'you're the greatest guy in the world and I'll give you as much candy as you want'?"

"No." A twitch of Sasuke's eye.

"Does it mean 'I'll love you forever and ever, you sexy beast you'?" A very big twitch.

"No. It means dead last, idiot," he finally said, figuring it to be best to just tell him what it meant, or he would be forced to listen to his incessant rambling.

"I'm not an idiot, you bastard! Nejiiiii, he's calling me an idiot!" Naruto wailed, turning to the taller, black-haired boy and started to clutch his shirt. "I'm not an idiot, am I?" And when he looked with the biggest blue eyes at the Hyuuga, Neji couldn't help but go 'Aww!' in his mind and decided it was time he helped the blond boy.

"No, you're an idiot," he said firmly, prying Naruto's hands off of him.

"Yay!" the blond exclaimed happily, before he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. "See! Neji says I'm not." When Sasuke was about to object, Haku let out a small cough and all attention was focused on him.

"Sasuke, I'm sure you would like to get a tour of your new house. Why don't I give you one and after that, I'll guide you to your room so you can get settled?" He smiled at him gently and Sasuke nodded, disappointed he couldn't continue his little game of 'tease the dobe' and grabbed his bag. He didn't have much things with him—only clothes. Just two pairs of pants and two shirts was all he owned, unfortunately. He figured that perhaps he could ask Naruto for some money to buy new clothes, but wasn't entirely sure whether or not that would be… _fair._ After all, Naruto had already given him a house, would be sending him to school and other things like that he would never have received in the orphanage.

"Come then, follow me," Haku said, the eternal smile on his face. Sasuke noted that, even though he _was_ smiling, his eyes held a certain sadness, now that he looked at them closer. But Naruto's eyes held it too, and so did Neji's, and so did Inari's and even Konohamaru, the kid who seemed like a total brat to Sasuke, seemed to be very sad.

Sasuke obeyed, stuffing his right hand in his pocket while he swung his bag around his shoulder. He walked next to Haku, who was cheerfully explaining where everything was—Naruto's room, the kitchen, the living room, the game room (even Sasuke, who didn't really feel much for games, had to drool when he saw it), the garden, which was beautiful—sakura trees, a small pond in the middle, a wooden swing hanging from an oak tree, a stone path guiding you around the entire garden. Sasuke immediately knew what his favourite place would be—Haku's own room, Neji's room, the three bathrooms and so on, until finally they were on their way to Sasuke's room.

"So, how do you like it here?" Haku asked as they walked on slowly. Sasuke shrugged.

"It's alright, I suppose. Better than the orphanage." _Much better,_ he mentally added. He would rather die than say it out loud, however. When he heard Naruto yell some obscenities from a distance, he scowled. "But that loudmouthed dobe really does ruin the mood here." He looked at Haku for some kind of confirmation, but all he got was a dark look. One that really scared the shit out of him.

"You shouldn't call him that," Haku said firmly. "He's… very special. To all of us. I might be kind when you say bad things about him, because you're ignorant, but others won't be." He suddenly got a small smile on his face and before Sasuke could object to the 'ignorant-comment', Haku spoke again. "Actually, you do remind me of how Neji used to be before he came here. You two are very much alike, but you seem to be more stubborn. What's your story?" he commented. Sasuke opened his mouth and closed it, trying to figure out what the last question meant. He shrugged.

"I don't have a story," he finally said, but knew it was a lie. He had a feeling Haku knew that as well.

"Don't be silly, everybody who comes here has a story, even Naruto." Haku stated. Sasuke looked at him curiously.

"What's his story?" The other boy smiled secretively at him, opening the door where they had stopped.

"That one's not mine to tell. Here's your room, I hope you like it. Naruto decorated it himself." Sasuke swallowed and had a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach; Naruto _loved _orange. Would his room be orange? He prayed to God it wasn't. He prayed to God Naruto suddenly got a sense of style.

When Haku pushed him inside, Sasuke really was afraid to open his eyes, but figured it was best to just open them, seeing as the room wouldn't change no matter how long he would close his eyes.

He slowly opened them and… was pleasantly surprised. The room was entirely dark blue and white; his bed was a double, with dark blue sheets. He had a desk, a brand new laptop (he made a mental whoop at that), a small television, a closet, dark blue curtains and… were those new clothes on top of his new bed? He blinked owlishly as he stepped forward and looked at the stack of new clothes; they were all blue, white or black. Five brand new pants (they were mostly dark blue jeans), five new shirts (white and black), a pair of new shoes, a school uniform and everything else he needed from swimming trunks to pyjamas. There was also a schoolbag and new schoolbooks (unlike the filthy things he had when he was in the orphanage).

He was surprised; everything was in his favourite colours, there was not an ounce of orange or anything else bright in his room and it was… _nice. _As nice as his other room had been, in his old house.

"So, ya like it?" A familiar voice said. Sasuke turned around to see Naruto standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a content smile on his face. He noticed that Haku had disappeared. "I asked Tsunade for your favourite things, so you should thank her. If I hadn't known, I probably would've made your room orange," he scratched his chin guiltily, as he grinned. "That actually happened with Konohamaru's room too, he wasn't too happy with it. But ya know, orange is a colour you have to get used to! And besides, now he likes—"

"You did this all by yourself?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow and cutting Naruto's ramblings off. The latter blinked.

"Yeah, well, Neji kinda helped but I picked everything out and stuff. And I made Konohamaru and Inari paint your walls blue and white—I hate painting." Sasuke nodded and noticed that the blond was now fidgeting nervously. "So, you like it or not? 'Cause I can change it if ya want, no big deal!" he grinned again, looking up. Sasuke shook is head.

"It's good, you don't have to change anything." Naruto looked very much relieved at that and relaxed.

"Great! Well, I'll let you get unpacked. I mean, not that you really have that much or anything, but… uh, you'd probably wanna be alone! Yeah! Oh, if there's anything else you need or something, just whistle and I'll come running. And you start school next Monday, I'm sure that uniform fits you. It's a great school, the same one I went to and… well, I bet you won't have any problem—"

"Dobe, you're rambling again." An amused look crossed Sasuke's face as Naruto stopped talking and glared at him. He hadn't forgotten Haku's words, but a little bit of teasing never killed anyone, right? Besides, it was so much fun.

The blond became red and started yelling about how much of a bastard Sasuke was, which evolved into more and more bickering about small things—about Sasuke's clothes ('Are you sure _you _picked these out for me? Considering you're wearing _that_' and 'What the hell is wrong with my outfit? Orange is the new black, I tell you!'), about Naruto's hair ('Did you dye your hair? It seems so fake. Is it a wig?' and 'The hell! This is natural! It's my real hair, bastard!') and much, much more, until they made their way to the living room, where all the others were sitting, either reading or playing games with each other.

"How dare you say that to me, bastard! I do _not _look like a girl! I'm the manliest man around here! Look at Neji, look! He's got long hair, or Haku! Everybody thinks he's a girl!" Sasuke pretended to be bored and rolled his eyes. Everybody looked up at the loud blond and Konohamaru and Inari snickered when Naruto tried to get Sasuke into a headlock, but failed miserably and ended up sprawled on the floor, yelling several more obscenities.

Haku scolded Naruto for uttering such language in front of Inari and Konohamaru, who exclaimed that they had learned some new words for their vocabulary.

Neji continued reading his book as if this happened everyday.

Naruto didn't pay attention to Haku and continued to curse and swear at Sasuke, before tackling him to the ground.

And Sasuke? Well.

Sasuke hadn't had that much fun in three years.

* * *

**Author's Note; **second chapter. I love Naruto. I love Haku. I love Konohamaru. I love Neji. I love… well no, I like Inari xD. Sasuke is alright too, he's cute when he's teasing Naruto, but uncute when he's angsting. –cough-

Anyway. Hope you liked the second chapter—this does have a plot, I swear! And there will be chapters where I'll put in flashbacks about each of their 'stories'. And Gaara will enter the fic soon as well, because I'm a hopeless Gaara-addict. Gha, so much to do, so little time.

Wordcount: 3772. Wow, longest chapter so far xD. They'll be longer though. I want to make fics with long chapters like others usually do—I know how annoying it is to wait for a fic and it's only 1500 words long or something T.T

Anyway, please review! And I just want to have a little poll here, this doesn't _really _count for the final ?xNaru pairing, but I just want to know who you like to have together with Naruto; Gaara, Neji or Sasuke. Any of them is fine by me, 'cause I like it all x3. I'll hold another one later on, I'm just interested how many of you like SasuNaru, GaaNaru, or NejiNaru. And I myself am not sure which one I want to end with Naruto. Depends on who I like best in this fic xD.


	3. Snow

**Title: **Fly On

**Rating: **M for language, yaoi, shonen ai, some angsting, bad humour and perhaps a lemon later on(?)

**Pairings: **SasuNaru, NejiNaru, GaaNaru and some side pairings

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels"

---**Unknown**

The next few days were rather boring for Sasuke; Naruto had gone out of town briefly for the weekend to take care of some business. Nobody would tell Sasuke what kind of business or where he was going and were all rather secretive about the whole ordeal, making Sasuke's curiosity reach its peek. Sasuke didn't like being kept in the dark and when everybody knew everything about something while he didn't was rather aggravating for him.

But, on the other hand, Sasuke didn't feel he had a right to snoop around the house to try and find more about the blond Samaritan, so instead decided he should sulk the entire weekend in his room. He hated Sundays anyway—there was nothing to do, just a day where people… _relaxed. _He disliked that very much.

His stay in the Uzumaki residence had been perfectly dreadful for him though; everyone was friendly and warm towards each other, something he wasn't quite used to anymore. He didn't feel the need for such things either.

There was only one person he could truly stand however, and that person was Haku who was more polite than friendly. Sasuke didn't think Haku truly liked him, but rather pretended to out of sheer politeness, which was rather understandable.

He _hated _the Hyuuga though. Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that Neji's last name sounded rather familiar, but he couldn't quite place it yet. That, however wasn't the reason for his hatred. Sasuke actually didn't really know why Neji was such an annoyance to him; perhaps it was the way that, even though he seemed like a very intelligent person, he still enjoyed Naruto's idiotic company. Or perhaps it was the fact that Neji seemed to dislike him very much as well, which wasn't very surprising.

Sasuke wasn't very much of a likeable person.

_Unlike Naruto, _he added bitterly, gritting his teeth as he stared up at the ceiling from his bed, his hands tucked behind his head. The picture of Naruto, grinning like an idiot, appeared in front of him and Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little resentment towards the blond man. How come Naruto had it all and he didn't? How come Naruto had money, lived a nice life and he didn't?

How come he was happy and Sasuke wasn't?

It seemed to be so unfair in Sasuke's mind, because didn't he deserve happiness as well? But he tried to remind himself that he didn't want anything of those things Naruto had. He reminded himself of crimson eyes instead, flashing with hatred, blood of his parents spilling on the floor. The image of the blond dobe disappeared and made room for the image of his brother, making Sasuke to feel slightly panicked. So fresh, the images were so fresh.

As he shut his eyes so tightly that his head began to hurt, he tried to block the images flashing through his mind, the things people had asked him, the way others would stare at him as he was some sort of poor, caged animal with no way out. He took the hands from under his head and used them to shut his ears, even though he had enough common sense to know it was futile. He didn't care at that moment though; these things happened to him often, where he would be reminded of that faithful day his entire life changed.

That faithful day when he took an oath.

The sounds kept on pouring through his mind and the images became more sharp as the seconds passed.

"…_such a shame…"_

_Blood flowing like a river._

"_Poor boy." _

_Laughter from the shadows._

"_Parents killed themselves… only him left…"_

_Cold, lifeless eyes looking up at him._

And as soon as the sounds and images had come, they were gone once more, leaving Sasuke shivering in his bed from the bad memories, cold sweat running over his entire body. It had only been a minute, but it had felt like an eternity for Sasuke.

He cursed himself mentally for being such a wimp, again taken over by fear like that, but even though he kept telling himself that he was not afraid, that he could handle things, he knew he couldn't. It was highly annoying to him and he praised God that he had his own room now; back in the orphanage, children would have been hanging all over him by now, asking him what was wrong and panicking themselves.

Yes, he did quite hate little children.

And he also couldn't shake the feeling that it was because of _Naruto _that he had another panic attack. That it was _Naruto _who had made him remember again.

Yes, it was all his fault.

"Sasuke-kun, it's time for lunch," Haku's muffled voice sounded from the other side of the door. Sasuke scowled briefly, pulling out a towel from his closet and drying his body with it. He didn't want the others to know, after all. He didn't want to be a weakling like them.

He smirked as he walked out of his room, heading towards the dining room where the rest of the brats were waiting for him. His only hope right now was that the Uzumaki-dobe would have already returned to entertain him some more.

* * *

"You've got to be kidding me," he stated dryly, his right hand tucked in the pocket of his pants, while the other one held his books tightly. Naruto blinked at him innocently, trying to understand just what Sasuke thought he was kidding about.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked finally. Sasuke stared at him for a long time, before shrugging and heading into the gate. Which was almost completely wrecked.

"This place is a dump. You expect me to prove myself in a place like this?" he shot back, though he looked rather bored. A 'dump' was an understatement however; this school did not seem like something rich kids would go to. Not that he was a rich kid, but the one who had adopted him sure was, so why did Naruto send him _here_? The walls were covered with graffiti, the school seemed to be one very, very small earthquake away from crumbling apart and… well. He quirked an eyebrow at the people who were to be his classmates; they were all rather… undefined. Which, again, was a very big understatement.

They also all seemed to be smoking, a rather disgusting habit in Sasuke's eyes. Sure, his late father would smoke a cigar on occasions, but that was nothing compared to the awful fumes coming from the disgusting cancer-stick these children were holding. Also, they all looked at him, some with curious glances, others with full out glares. They weren't used to seeing such a fancy black car, nor a _regular _schooluniform. Sure, they had it too, but either they had added some of their own things to it, or didn't have their ties on, or other small things like that. Sasuke seemed to be perfectly dressed however, all according to school rules.

Not to mention that he had the entire attention of all the females. Which only fuelled the boys' hatred.

Naruto grinned however, not seeming to take notice of the children who were glad to skewer Sasuke alive. "Don't worry, I graduated here too! Besides, it's only for a year Sasuke. After that, you can go to college. Besides, if you need anyone to look out for you, Inari and Konohamaru will help ya with it, even though you're their sempai now." Sasuke sighed, rubbing his temples. It wasn't like he didn't go to this sort of a school before in the orphanage, though he had hoped for something more classy.

"Whatever dobe," he muttered, ignoring the fact that Naruto started to yell at him once more. Sasuke really didn't feel much like arguing at the moment and he figured it would be alright as long as he kept to himself. Not like he needed friends anyway.

* * *

After a couple of hours, Sasuke found out that this school was perfectly dreadful. Not only were the teachers as mad and crazy as they could get, but the girls were too.

I suppose you are all wondering _what _was so dreadful about the school. Well, let me just explain it to you.

First of all, his P.E. teacher was an idiot. His name was Maito Gai and Sasuke couldn't keep his eyes _off of him. _Not that he was hot—no, the guy had the biggest eyebrows known to man. Really, the young Uchiha even wondered if those were just very big caterpillars and when they would start to crawl around. Not only that, but he had been wearing the most hideous green spandex Sasuke had ever seen.

Well, he had figured that perhaps, even despite his appearance, Gai-sensei would be a very adequate P.E. teacher. Unfortunately, after about halfway into the lesson, Sasuke found out that that really wasn't the case. Gai was weird, obnoxious and loud, constantly exclaiming that they were in their 'springtime of youth' and that if they couldn't run one hundred laps, that they should do two hundred push-ups.

I'm sure you get the idea right about now.

Secondly, his biology teacher was… creepy. That was the only word Sasuke knew that would describe this particular teacher; creepy. His name was Orochimaru and according to the young Uchiha, the name fit perfectly with his appearance and personality. He had squinted and yellow eyes like a snake and was even paler than Sasuke was. His low and soft voice made Sasuke shiver in a not-so-good way, especially when he used it while talking to him. There was something in his eyes that Sasuke didn't trust.

Thirdly; the girls. Now, not all of them were bad—some were just too chicken to even talk to him and instead made googoo-eyes at him and shyly blushed whenever he spared them a glance. But, there were also those who would cling to his arms and who would ask him out over and over again, despite the glares he shot them. These girls were named Sakura and Ino.

Sasuke thought they both were rather pretty, but quite annoying and demanding. He didn't have any interests in females however and tried to make that quite clear to them, but it was to no avail. These girls were simply living in their own little world.

And forthly; his homeroom teacher, Hatake Kakashi. The guy had been half an hour late, made up a stupid excuse that nobody believed and then proceeded to sit behind his desk, tell his class that they should read page whatever, before he took out a book called 'Icha Icha Paradise'. Sasuke snorted to himself; yeah, that was such a subtle title for a pornographic novel.

Disgusting pervert.

Sasuke thought about how he was supposed to last another year in that school and scowled; it was all Uzumaki's fault. If he hadn't sent him there, but instead to a private school with _normal _teachers and classmates he _might _have liked Naruto a little bit better, but _no_, the blond idiot just _had _to put him into a school full of crazy people.

Disgusting moron.

So that was why Sasuke, on a beautiful, sunny Monday afternoon, entered the house with the word 'irritation' written all over his face as he dumped his bag unceremoniously on the disgusting piece of dark orange furniture in the family room. He didn't care when Haku looked at him slightly worried, nor did he care when Neji just looked rather smugly; he only wanted to forget that the entire day had ever happened and just… wake up in the orphanage again.

Or _anywhere _else for that matter.

There was a knock on his door five minutes after he had come back from school, followed by a happy chirp from Haku. "So, how was it?" Sasuke scowled and for a second opted to let Haku stay outside, but quickly dismissed that thought. Haku was one of the few _normal _people he had met ever since he arrived, so Sasuke figured he should at least be friendly to him.

He opened the door for Haku, who gave him a small grin. "I bet you weren't expecting that school, huh?" Sasuke snorted; of course he didn't. He expected a neat private school with normal teachers and perhaps an all-boys school for that matter… females were so annoying. "Don't worry, it's a good school once you get used to it. Does Gai-sensei still teach there?" he asked conversationally, settling himself in one of the blue chairs.

"You mean the crazy one with the huge eyebrows?" Sasuke asked, making the other chuckle lightly.

"That's the one. He might seem weird, but he's a good teacher." The young Uchiha shrugged, not really seeing the point in this conversation. He instead immediately asked what had been on his mind all day;

"Why the _hell _did Naruto send me to _that _school?" he blurted out. Haku one time blinked, before a knowing smile spread across his face.

"He went there himself as well," Haku replied. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "And, I suppose it's because Naruto doesn't want to give us _too _much luxury such as a private school. He doesn't want us to be handed everything on a gold platter, since that's not the way it works in real life either." Sasuke looked at him for a couple of seconds before he muttered a small 'whatever', not understanding it at all.

Silence washed over them after that; an uncomfortable one. Haku had hoped he would manage to get at least _something_ out of the Uchiha—maybe how his entire day was, or even something about the weather, but no. This guy just stared up at the ceiling, his face as blank as always. Haku shifted uncomfortably in his chair for a moment, getting the attention of Sasuke, who in turn raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're still here?" he asked, very impolitely. Haku gave him a small glare, though it didn't really fit with his girlish face, so Sasuke was hardly impressed. He sighed, wondering why this boy was so intent on talking to him. "I'm not much of a talker," he then admitted. _Well, whoop-die-doo, smartass_, Haku thought, rolling his eyes. Like he hadn't noticed _that _already. "But if you want to talk to me so badly, why don't you tell me something about yourself. You said a couple of days ago that everyone 'had stories' here. I rather dislike not knowing things," he continued.

It was partly true; he actually was more curious about Naruto's past, but figured Haku wouldn't be the one telling him that. Sasuke would have to ask Naruto himself, but he didn't feel keen on doing that either, for some reason. Anything that involved the dobe was bad.

Haku stayed silent for a while, before he glanced at his watch. "Well, I suppose we do have time before dinner," he finally said, smiling a little sadly. Sasuke wondered… whether it really was such a sad story. "But, I will only do it on one condition," he continued. The young Uchiha blinked once. "That you will take Naruto out for a day." Sasuke's eyes widened.

"_What!_" Haku in turn smirked mischievously and Sasuke wondered whether or not he was all wrong about him; he suddenly didn't seem to be so 'gentle' and 'kind' anymore, now that he was smirking.

"Naruto has been working non-stop for the past few months and nobody can get him out of there, not even Neji who is his best friend."

"So what makes you think I can?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Haku shrugged.

"I think you're someone who doesn't give up," his eyes suddenly sparkled with mischief. "And I bet you'll end up dragging Naruto out of his office too. Anyway, just take him out somewhere. He likes the movies and ramen a lot… but he'll tell you all about it. Get to know him a bit better; I'm sure you wouldn't think so little of him once you do." Sasuke snorted.

"I highly doubt that. But sure, I suppose it couldn't hurt," he said, shrugging. Haku smiled in triumph, barely refraining himself from pumping a fist up in the air.

"Alright then, where should I begin?" he pondered, tapping his chin with his index finger. Sasuke took his eyes off the ceiling and instead looked at Haku, who began talking almost instantly.

* * *

He remembered that it was snowing.

It was always snowing there, where he lived. And always cold too. He remembered that his mom was always sick, because she coughed a lot and was often lying in bed with fever. It seemed so silly to him then; having a fever while it was so cold. But he didn't know any better back then; after all, he was only eight years old.

His father was a catholic and was best friends with the priest of their village. They believed his mom was possessed by the devil, because she often talked about him. They also believed he was possessed, but he didn't understand why. He didn't feel possessed, at least.

They said it was because of his mom though.

His dad had said that if his mom would get an exorcism, she would get better again and if he didn't get one, he would end up like his mom, sick in bed. He thought that was very scary at the time; he didn't want to get sick. He wanted to play with his friends, though he didn't have them anymore; they thought he was evil too. He didn't understand any of it, but he figured his dad was telling the truth so he agreed on it.

He said it didn't hurt him. He had said everything was going to be alright. He said they wouldn't kill his mother.

Yes, he had said that; but now that he looked back on it, he figured he should've known that something bad was going to happen. Because he had somewhere known it, deep in his heart, that his father was lying. That it _was_ going to hurt him deeply. That it wasn't going to be alright.

_That they _would _kill his mother._

But even though he felt this, his dad was trying to talk him into it. "You'll have friends again," he had said. "Daddy will love you more if you do," he had said. "If you don't, we'll have to kill the evil demon inside of you by killing you," he had said as well.

He didn't want to die just yet.

Right before the exorcism would be taking place, on a Sunday afternoon it was, his mom called for him from out the bedroom. He had been playing with some toys that his dad had given him for being such a 'big boy', after agreeing that he would do it. He walked in curiously, wondering why his mom was calling for him. She wasn't supposed to talk to people, especially not to him, his dad had said. Because then the devils might be stronger, he had explained.

"Yes, mommy?" he asked, smiling lightly at her. She seemed to be so weak; how could she be possessed? And her eyes were so sweet…

"Don't do it, don't," she murmured, before lifting her upper body up by using her elbows. She reached underneath her mattress and took out a small, white envelop. She gave it to him, noticing the questioning look on his face. "Listen to me; I'm too weak to run away," she continued, and he noticed the way her voice was shaking. Was she trying not to cry? "But you can still run. I'm giving you all the money that I own. Be a big boy and take care of yourself, okay? Don't use this money for toys, but for food and a trainticket out of here. You know every shortcut there is through the woods, right?" He nodded, giving her his full attention. Leave his father? Don't do the exorcism? Maybe she really was possessed… He quickly stuffed the envelop into his pocket for safe keeping, just in case though. "Use those," she said, stopping briefly to cough. It didn't sound too good. "And leave. You'll be killed otherwise," she said. "They want to kill you. They say they don't, but they do. They want it to make it look like an acci—"

His eyes widened when his father stood behind him, hitting his mother. She hadn't done anything wrong, why was he hitting her?! He felt two strong hands on his shoulders, squeezing them in anger. It hurt, for he was still fragile and his dad was obviously mad about something.

His mom… his dad had hit his mom.

Maybe _he_ was the bad guy after all.

When he looked at his mother, who was now squirming on the bed, groaning in pain, he began to doubt his father. What kind of a man would hit a woman who was sick and fragile? That wasn't right… even if she _was_ possessed. Which led him to the next thing; how can she be possessed when she was worrying over his safety, when she looked so sweet and on the verge of crying?

How could she have a devil inside of her?

He began trembling when he heard the deep voice of his father behind him. "Haku," he said, releasing his shoulders and walking over to the door. He reached out a hand for him. "It's time for the exorcism. You go first," he continued.

Haku looked at the hand, then to his mother and then to the open window behind her bed. His mother looked at him, pleading eyes which silently begged him to leave.

Clutching the envelop in the pocket of his pants, he turned away from his father and jumped on the bed, quickly climbing out the window. His mom… she was the good one. Because she would never hit and she would never hurt anyone. His dad had hurt his mom and was trying to hurt him.

He heard his father yelling out the window, his mother screaming in pain and the villagers telling him to stop and come back. But as he entered the woods where he knew no one would find him, all the voices faded, leaving only the voice of his mother, telling him that she loved him and that he needed to get away.

* * *

Haku briefly paused to look at his watch. "Dear me, it's that late already? I should set the table." He smiled at Sasuke, who, for the first time in his life, found himself speechless.

"You're stopping _there_?" he asked finally, disbelieving. He knew that couldn't be where the story had ended; after all, he was much too young to have come across Naruto.

"I'll continue after dinner," Haku said simply, smirking lightly. "Unless you'd like to help me set the table. I could tell you more while we're working."

Sasuke fell out of his bed; this guy definitely wasn't _that _sweet. He was… rather manipulative.

The Uchiha followed Haku to the dining room, wondering what more could have happened to him.

* * *

**An: **Well, that was part of Haku's story. It will continue in the next chapter x3. I hope you liked it though O.o 


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